When is Form 5500 due?
Your plan’s Form 5500 is due the last day of the 7th calendar month after the plan year ends. For a calendar-year plan, that is July 31 of the following year. The 2025 plan year was due Friday, July 31, 2026. The 2026 plan year is due July 31, 2027, which is a Saturday, so the filing moves to Monday, August 2, 2027.
The rule is the same every year. Only the calendar shifts.
| Plan year ends | Original due date | 5500 extension deadline (Form 5558) |
|---|---|---|
| December 31 (calendar year) | July 31 | October 15 |
| March 31 | October 31 | January 15 |
| June 30 | January 31 | April 15 |
| September 30 | April 30 | July 15 |
| Any other month end | Last day of the 7th month after the plan year ends | 2½ months after the original due date |
Three rules change the dates in that table:
- Weekends and holidays. If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, you may file on the next business day.
- Short plan years. If you change your plan year or the plan ends, the short plan year’s filing is due the last day of the 7th month after the short year ends.
- Disaster relief. The IRS, DOL and PBGC sometimes announce special extensions for presidentially declared disasters. Check irs.gov and the EFAST2 site if your area is affected.
How does the 5500 extension work?
There are two ways to get more time, and you can use one or the other, not both.
Form 5558. Filing IRS Form 5558 on or before the original due date extends the Form 5500 deadline by up to 2½ months, to October 15 for a calendar-year plan. It is a one-time extension. You can file Form 5558 electronically through EFAST2 or on paper with the IRS, and you keep a copy with your plan records. Each plan needs its own request, so an employer with a 401(k) and a health plan files two.
The automatic corporate tax extension. If your plan year matches your company’s tax year and the company has an extension to file its federal income tax return, your Form 5500 is automatically extended to that tax return’s extended due date. You don’t file Form 5558, but you must keep a copy of the tax extension request with the plan’s records. This extension cannot be stretched further with Form 5558 and cannot run past 9½ months after the plan year ends.
| Form 5558 | Automatic corporate tax extension | |
|---|---|---|
| How long | Up to 2½ months | To the employer’s extended tax return due date, never more than 9½ months after plan year end |
| What to file | Form 5558, by the original due date | Nothing for the plan; keep the tax extension request on file |
| Who can use it | Any plan | Only plans whose plan year matches the employer’s tax year |
| Can be combined | No | No |
The automatic route matters most when the company’s extended due date lands later than October 15. For a calendar-year S corporation or partnership, the extended return is due September 15, earlier than the Form 5558 date, so Form 5558 usually gives more time. A tax-exempt employer that extends its Form 990 with Form 8868 gets the same automatic treatment.
An extension of the Form 5500 does not extend other deadlines, such as Form 8955-SSA or PBGC premium filings.
Who has to file?
Most ERISA plans file, but the rules differ for retirement and welfare plans.
| Plan | Files Form 5500? |
|---|---|
| 401(k) and other retirement plans | Yes, regardless of size. Plans with fewer than 100 participants may be able to use Form 5500-SF. One-participant plans use Form 5500-EZ |
| Health and welfare plans with 100 or more participants at the start of the plan year | Yes |
| Welfare plans under 100 participants that are fully insured, unfunded, or a combination | No, exempt under 29 CFR 2520.104-20 |
| Welfare plans under 100 participants that use a trust, such as a VEBA | Generally yes |
| MEWAs subject to Form M-1 | Yes, the small plan exemption does not apply |
| Governmental plans and most church plans | No, they are outside ERISA’s reporting rules |
Count participants as of the first day of the plan year. A health plan that grows past 100 during the year does not lose the small plan exemption until the next plan year starts. For welfare plans, the count is covered employees and former employees, not dependents.
“Fully insured” has a specific meaning. Benefits must come only from insurance contracts, the employer must pay premiums directly to the carrier from its general assets, and any employee contributions must be sent on within three months. A self-funded or level-funded plan is not fully insured, though a small unfunded plan paid from general assets can still qualify. See who is subject to ERISA for which plans are covered at all.
How do you file?
Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF are filed electronically through EFAST2, the DOL’s filing system, using EFAST2-approved software or the DOL’s free web-based filer. The plan administrator signs electronically with an EFAST2 user ID and PIN. Large plans attach the required schedules, and most large plans also attach an independent accountant’s report, which is why audit timing drives many extensions. See employee benefit plan audits.
Many employers combine their health and welfare benefits into one plan under an ERISA wrap document, so they file one Form 5500 instead of one for each benefit.
What does late filing cost?
Late filing can cost up to $2,739 a day in DOL penalties, with no cap. The DOL and the IRS each have their own penalties, and retirement plans can owe both.
| Penalty | Amount | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| DOL, ERISA section 502(c)(2) | Up to $2,739 a day, no cap | Any plan required to file, including health and welfare plans |
| IRS, Code section 6652(e) | $250 a day, up to $150,000 per return | Retirement plans and all Form 5500-EZ filers, not welfare plans |
The $2,739 DOL figure is the 2025 inflation-adjusted amount (90 FR 1854, January 10, 2025). The DOL made no inflation adjustment for 2026 because the October 2025 inflation data was never published, and its May 27, 2026 notice (91 FR 31358) keeps the 2025 amounts in effect.
The DOL can also treat an incomplete or rejected filing as not filed. Missing schedules, a missing accountant’s report or an unsigned return can carry the same penalty as no return at all.
How does DFVC cap the penalty?
If you missed a filing and the DOL has not yet sent you a notice, the Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program lets you file late and pay a reduced, capped penalty.
| Small plan | Large plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily penalty | $10 a day from the original due date | $10 a day from the original due date |
| Cap per late filing | $750 | $2,000 |
| Cap per plan, all late years together | $1,500 | $4,000 |
| Small plan sponsored by a 501(c)(3) | $750 per plan | Not applicable |
The program is closed once the DOL issues a notice of intent to assess a penalty, so the time to use it is as soon as you find the missed filing. You file the late Form 5500 through EFAST2 with the DFVC box checked and pay the penalty separately. The IRS generally does not impose its own late filing penalties on Form 5500 and 5500-SF filers who qualify for DFVC (Notice 2014-35), as long as any required Form 8955-SSA is filed too. Form 5500-EZ filers and one-participant plans are not eligible for DFVC and use a separate IRS program.
What does the filing tell you?
Form 5500 is the government’s main look at how your plan is run: who is covered, what it costs, which service providers are paid, and whether plan money is handled the way ERISA requires. The same data is what a fiduciary review needs. When you pull it together each year, use it to ask:
- Are the fees reasonable? Compare recordkeeping, administration and broker or consultant compensation reported on the schedules against what you expected to pay.
- Is the plan still doing its job? For retirement plans, review the investment lineup. For health plans, review the carriers and service providers that appear on the schedules.
- Are the documents current? Check that your plan document and summary plan description match how the plan actually runs.
- Who owns the deadline? Name the person responsible for the filing and the extension, and put both dates on the calendar.
Write down what you reviewed and what you decided, so you can show your process later. The Form 5500 is one item on the ERISA compliance checklist, and Ethos Benefits tracks it for clients as part of its ERISA compliance work.
